WAS IT ALL FOR NOTHING?
People often ask me how long I spend on sermon work each week. If it is a regular week like this past one was, a week in which I only have one sermon to prepare and I have a little more time in between Bible class preparation and appointments and meetings and visits and classes to work on it, it’s usually around 10-12 hours from start to finish. And that includes taking a lot of time and a lot of effort translating the original text, figuring out the unique characteristics of the words and phrases in that particular section of Scripture, crafting a theme that will be mentally edible for everyone here, pulling out the specific law and the specific gospel, constructing an outline that can be easily grasped, writing in a way that is accurate and thought-provoking and interesting and spiritually inspirational, editing every paragraph so that it flows smoothly, memorizing exactly what I want to say so that nothing is left to chance... And I would hope that it’s no surprise to you that I would spend plenty of time and work and effort on a sermon because that’s something very important; that’s something I care a lot about. Which means I also spend a lot of time and work and effort on Bible classes and my own daily Bible readings and my family and my marriage and right down the list to the more trivial and less important things in this life. Because it can be said about me as it can be said about everyone else: the more you care about something, the more time and work and effort you’re likely to spend on it.
And so to understand what our God really cares about, to figure out what is close to his heart, think back through the pages of Scripture: what did he spend a lot of time and work and effort on? Our God spent a lot of time and work and effort on his people, didn’t he? Think about how much time and effort he spent developing them as a nation, from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to his twelve sons and then into the twelve tribes of Israel. Think of how much time and effort he spent teaching them his laws on Mt. Sinai and safely leading them through the desert and directing them in the Promised Land and providing them numerous judges over the decades to get them out of the trouble they got themselves into and bringing various nations under their control and sending prophet after prophet after prophet to them so that they would be brought back to repentance and reassuring them throughout the centuries with promises about their Savior… The Lord spent a lot of time and work and effort for his people throughout the entire Old Testament. And when the coming Christ showed up on this earth in New Testament times, the time and work and effort put in for his people didn’t taper off in any way at all. In fact, it escalated to a level that it hadn’t ever been at before.
This morning we will spend some time on Isaiah chapter 49 because it is a direct prophecy about the time and work and effort that Christ would spend on his people. It talks about Christ’s calling from his Father, his duty as a Servant, his work as a Savior, and his ultimate goal of bringing everyone to faith in him. But in this prophecy about Christ, Christ himself is actually speaking. And that’s a little bit unusual because normally a prophecy simply predicts something or someone to come in the future; which means that the subject of the prophecy isn’t usually the one speaking. Here though, in Isaiah 49, that’s exactly what happens. Christ is depicted as speaking these very words in the future about a conversation he once had with his Father in the past. “Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. He said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.’” But then Christ says something about his work that he would perform in the future that is a little bit unexpected. "But I said, ‘I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.’” Why would Christ say that? Why would he be distressed over the results of all the time and work and effort he woul put in for his people? Well, if you think about what happened with his people when he did come to this earth, the answer should be fairly obvious.
When Jesus came to this earth as a human being and began his ministry in the area of Galilee, the people of Jesus’ hometown wanted to kill him; many of his own family members didn’t believe in him; his own followers left him on a regular basis; one of his own disciples betrayed him; his own countrymen demanded that he be crucified; his own high priest accused him of blasphemy… In general, the Jewish people hated Jesus - one of their own! And so after all of the time and all of the work and all of the effort he spent for the good of his people; it kind of seemed like it had been all for nothing. Because most of his words fell on deaf ears. Most of his works miracles were despised. Most of his people didn’t believe in him. And so in sorrow and disappointment Jesus says about his future work for his people through the prophet Isaiah, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.”
Of course, there are times when the Lord could say the exact same thing about me. He put in a lot of work for me: he took the time and the effort to provide a family for me that was solidly Christian from the time before I was born. Christ made sure that I was baptized into the name of the Triune God 13 days after I was brought into this world. He instructed me in Sunday School and catechism class every week throughout my formative years. He provided a Lutheran grade school and a Lutheran high school and a Lutheran college and a Lutheran seminary for me to attend through all my 21 years of schooling. He has blessed me with a Christian wife, Christian children, and a Christian congregation. He has granted me enough ability to read and understand his Word as well as to apply it to my life. My Lord has spent the time and the effort not only to bring me to faith but to also preserve my faith and strengthen my faith over the years through those very same words of God.
But then there are days when I act as if that baptism never happened. And there are times when I say things about another person that my Christian parents certainly didn’t teach me. And there are moments when I start to puzzle over some things that I was taught when I was 9 years old. And I mistreat and misuse the blessings of my family and my spouse and my congregation. And I forget God’s Word and I ignore God’s Word and I flat out refuse to apply God’s Word to my life. And I can almost see Christ through his hands up into the air and say, “I have labored to no purpose! I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing!” How often could he say that same thing about you?
There is no question that sometimes we act as if we were never baptized, or taught the Word of God, or even know what Christ has done for us! We act so foolishly and talk so irreverently at times that it’s amazing we still have the audacity to call ourselves children of God! He spends so much time and so much work and so much effort to make us his children and to take care of his children - and sometimes it must seem like it is all for nothing! The Word he presents us with we disregard. The faith he gives us we allow to decompose. The eternal life he grants us we don’t treat as all that important. Has he really labored to no purpose for us? Has Christ spent his strength in vain and for nothing?
No! Christ has not labored to no purpose! Christ has not spent his strength in vain! It hasn’t been all for nothing! Because look at who you are. Look at where you’re at. And look at where you’re going to be. You are a child of God, an adopted first-born son, a precious member of God’s family. Despite the sinful nature that was attached to you from the very beginning, regardless of the countless sins you have committed throughout your life, over against all of those obstacles you throw in his way every day, your Lord still considers you one of his own. And he thinks of you in that way because the Lord spent a lot of time and a lot of effort making sure you could be given that status!
Christ spent a lot of time and effort when he was on this earth proving himself perfect through every temptation so that you would be in good standing with his Father; and now you are. Christ spent a lot of time and a lot of effort in making sure that his sacrifice on the cross counted for your sins; and now you are forgiven because of it. Christ spent a lot of time and a lot of effort providing a way out of death by means of his resurrection; and now you are guaranteed eternal life. Christ spent a lot of time and a lot of effort setting up ways in which you could be brought into contact with that Good News: through baptism, through the Lord’s Supper, through the written and spoken Word of God; and now look who you are! You’ve been brought over that uncrossable line from unbeliever to believer! From darkness to light! From death to life! You are God’s child because of Christ’s work! That’s who you are. Christ’s time and his work and his efforts for you have not been all for nothing.
And look at where you’re at. You’re at a place that teaches the true Word of God without apology or alteration - and you can come back whenever you want to your God speak to you again. You are at a time in your life when you understand the importance of that Word for your life here and your life up there. You are at a point in your life where the Lord has worked on your heart for so many years that your faith has been solidified by the continuous foundation work he has laid through his Word. That is where you are at. Christ’s time and his work and his efforts have certainly not been all for nothing.
And that is why you can look forward to where you are going to be. You are going to be in heaven, in Paradise, in that perfect place with all of the angels of creation and all of the believers that went before you, gathered around your Lord for a worship service to end all worship services. You will live in the middle of the glory of the Lord; you will see his full majesty and power with your own eyes; and you will never be unhappy again. This is where you are going to be. All of Christ’s time and all of Christ’s work and all of Christ’s efforts have never been nor will they ever be all for nothing. When you die and are taken out of this life or if Judgment Day comes before that time, the Lord will not say of you, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.” No, he will say “I have labored for a great purpose: your salvation. I have spent my strength well: for your life. There is no one else I’d rather see right now. And I’d do it all over again if I had to.”
Your Lord really does care. He cares if you end up in heaven or not. And he doesn’t just care about you. He cares about every person in this entire world. That’s why he was so distressed in this prophecy from Isaiah 49. Those he longed for were a long ways off. Those he reached for were slapping his hands away. Those he loved didn’t want it. That breaks his heart. That tears your Lord apart when the people of this earth do not know him and do not want to know him. Because he has done so much for them. He has spent so much time for them. He has expended so much effort for them. He has put in so many hours for them. And they don’t care. They don’t care because they don’t believe.
My brothers and sisters, you who have benefited from the Lord’s time and work and efforts just like I have, please tell people how much time and work and effort that the Lord has spent for them. They need to know. The Lord wants them to know. And he wants you to help them to hear it. Do not let all of the Lord’s labors be wasted on anyone else around you. Show them what the Lord has done. Invite them to see what he has sacrificed. Encourage them to hear what he has accomplished. He has not labored to no purpose. He has not spent his strength in vain.
Amen.
“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” - 2 Thess. 3:5
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